Rejuvenated Oak Hill can deliver a pedigree champion

A dramatically restored East Course hopes to reestablish its marquee bona fides with this week’s 2023 PGA Championship

GOOD CHEER: Rory McIlroy shares a laugh with caddie Harry Diamond on the fourth tee during a practice round prior to the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Pic: Warren Little/Getty Images

Venerable Oak Hill Country Club developed a modern reputation as somewhat of a golf’s no-man’s land – or no-name’s land, if you will. The upstate New York club didn’t exactly burnish its major image with its most recent PGA champions Jason Dufner (2013) and Shaun Micheel (2003) – one-hit wonders whose career-defining wins have faded into the annals of largely forgotten triumphs.

Back in the 20th century, however, Oak Hill delivered a pedigree of champions worthy of its stature as one of America’s recurring championship venues. Names like Snead, Coe, Middlecoff, Trevino, Nicklaus and Strange all made history winning on the East Course originally designed by Donald Ross when the club moved in 1921 to its current property in the Rochester suburbs.